Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Goa

Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay, I had a sick day a couple days ago but thankfully it was only a day. I went out climbing in the morning, felt a little sick, then threw up my breakfast. The rest of the day was spent drinking plenty of water and sleeping, but 24 hours later I was just fine. Went up to the monkey temple 2 days ago (via scooter), with a few friends. In our group of 6 people, there were 5 nationalities (Canadian, American, Welsh, English, Indian) represented. Pretty awesome if you ask me. At the monkey temple (which is atop a mountain), we went into a little shrine to Hanuman; the monkey god. Inside the shrine, a monk (ey??) conducted a little ceremony with bells and incense etc, then called on us to, one by one, go up and do some breathing exercise with the incense smoke. Tima went first, then I went up, and by doing so apparently condemned myself to a future life as a cockroach. See, the incense was in this little room with the guru, and there was a step to this room. I put my foot on the step while performing the motion, and as a result got an angry grunt and was denied the sugar and honey that everyone else got. This was actually quite funny to me. In my head, I was thinking "Look, man. Do I look like a Hindu? No, didn't think so. So why not just be a little forgiving if my prayer technique is sloppy while I try to appreciate your way of life?". This showed to me some sort of insecurity in the man. Anyhow, the next morning (yesterday) I went climbing with Tima and a couple other friends, then chilled for a few hours before catching our 5:00 train to Goa. Our travel companion for the time being is a Brit we met in Hampi named Rob- helluva funny guy. Anyways, it was 12 hours travel and then another hour on the bus, but we're finally here. The train wasn't so bad- I slept most of the time, and read my book (a Hindu epic, the name of which I will post later). Anyways, we just had breakfast, and are ready to enjoy the beach! I'll be more frequent in posting now.
Nick
PS: Check out www.ilovemyliferightnow.com It is the website of the marketer for Pilsner beer who gave us the flag, and we're featured. Check that site as well for updates, fyi our friend from Bristol (Dan) is the one holding the flag. Pilsner ftw!

4 comments:

  1. Your latest posting made me smile Nick, a big smile, a great feeling and a great way to start a Wednesday! Thank you!!! Five star rating on the Pilsner site!! Love Mom

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  2. Amazing (to use an overused but accurate word), absolutely amazing.

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  3. What a great posting, Nick. Glad you two are better. Enjoy Goa!

    Donna

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  4. What great news Nick. Swimming in the warm ocean, drinking beer on a beach, just what you wanted to do. Meeting new friends, exploring, living life as a cochroach because you didn't follow Indian customs - maybe you will have a chance to redeem yourself with the next Guru.
    Good to hear you are feeling better. Keep the comments coming..
    Grama R.
    Vaughn: Yeh! for the Canadiens. GOod for them.We are following their series and routing for them.

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